Students work to build a “speedy shelter” with bamboo sticks and other limited supplies. The activity was meant to mimic how an engineer might construct a temporary shelter for a family who lost their house in a natural disaster.

High school students visiting UT Dallas for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day met with industry professionals, received a first-hand look at some of the latest trends in engineering and built new creations of their own.

The day’s activities were meant to inspire the young women from the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School to consider a future in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, also known as the STEM fields.

Though women make up nearly half of the workforce in the United States and half of the college-educated workforce, they hold less than 25 percent of jobs in STEM fields, according to a 2011 government report.

To get an idea of the type of projects and problems engineers take on, the girls were challenged to build structures, vehicles, instruments and electrical devices using a set of provided assorted tools and supplies.

One group was charged with creating a complex instrument that could produce different notes and sounds with only a roll of duct tape, a pair of scissors, a paper cutter, pencils, craft sticks, rubber bands and a shoe box.

After the group activities, the students met with female representatives from Texas Instruments, who spoke about their daily roles as engineers and fielded questions from the students.

One group was charged with creating a complex instrument that could produce different notes and sounds with only a roll of duct tape, a pair of scissors, a paper cutter, pencils, craft sticks, rubber bands and a shoe box.

Amy Bechner from Texas Instruments met with students from Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School as a part of “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.”

(At top) Fern Yoon, a UT Dallas graduate and Texas Instruments employee, speaks to a table of Dallas high school students about opportunities in engineering. (Above) Danielle Cyr eats lunch with young women interested in STEM fields. The program aims to encourage girls to go into STEM careers by showing them what engineering is and what engineers do.

Katie Enderle is a UT Dallas grad and TI employee who helped at the event. The Galerstein Women's Center and the Department of Community Engagement co-host “Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day” each spring during National Engineers Week.